A March 3rd press release from the Pittsburgh Mayor’s office dealt with staff levels at the Fire Bureau and noted that staffing is at its highest level since 2004. That year was a high water mark as the City was in its first year of Act 47 status and was about to change the cost sharing provisions for firefighter health care.
The press release contains a chart on staffing, comparing budgeted levels and actual totals for Fire staffing. If the March 2017 total holds until year end, it will be the first year since 2004 when actual staffing exceeds budgeted. The 2017 budget (page 221) shows how the budgeted 656 uniformed positions is broken down by responsibility.
Our Benchmark City reports ran comparisons on Fire staffing (uniformed and civilian) between Pittsburgh and the Benchmark City and here are how they compared in 2004 and 2016 on staffing per 1,000 people. Even though the headcount per 1,000 fell in both Pittsburgh and the Benchmark City over the time period, Pittsburgh was sill around 40% higher on the measure at both points in time.
